South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is looking to establish an industry body with the backing of mining companies to act as a unified bargaining council for the sector.

NUM deputy general secretary Archie Palane told Reuters in an interview that the council would be useful when lobbying government on wide-ranging issues such as the strong rand.

An industry council would also facilitate the standardisation of working conditions across the sector and thereby remove sources of tension within the workforce.

For example a wildcat strike hit Impala Platinum in June, when machine operators complained that they were being treated differently to others doing the same job at different companies.

Mr Palane stated: "We want the companies to see workers not as mere assets, but as partners within the mining industry. We want to try to bring harmonisation and minimum standards across the industry."

"At the macro level, we believe that we could make a valuable contribution to legislation and various developments that would impact on the industry and ourselves."